The next day I had plenty of time to get back to Watertown for the memorial so I took the back roads and visited some of the small towns south and west of Watertown.  One of particular interest was Willow Lake.  Now I couldn’t remember if I’d been to Willow Lake before but supposedly I was related to about half the people there (pop 250-300).  Things were pretty quiet as I got into town but a lady came to get her mail and as I explained my situation she said we probably weren’t related but that I should see the Willow Lake Museum.  Now it was only open Wed. mornings but the lady who ran it sometimes forgot to lock the door so check it out.  So I walked over.  The door was unlocked.  Spent 15-20 minutes looking around.  As I left the museum an older guy drove up to the post office.  I explained my situation and told him I was a Schmidt.  “Which Schmidt are you?”  My grandfather was Herb Schmidt from Clark.  “Oh! Herb married Gusty and Gusty was my grandmother’s sister.”  Which means we’re... like... second cousins.  Nice to meet you.  The only other second cousin I’ve ever met is MJ Schmidt (picture).  “MJ? Oh Mary Jane.  She’s here someplace.  I just saw her.”  And there she was.  Walking across the street.  I called out to her and she turned and looked and said “Who are you?”  RA Meyer from Guam.  “I thought that might be you.”  We’d met 5-6 years ago.  MJ’s fun.  She’s from a side of the Schmidt family that got most the music genes.  Her sister’s in Nashville, playing in a band and married to a songwriter.  When I told MJ about the museum and the door being unlocked, she told me she was the lady who ran the museum and she didn’t realize she’d left it unlocked.  We went over to the museum and had a nice talk.  Soon, however, it was time to get to Watertown for Cathy’s memorial.

I got to Mikes house just in time to change clothes and get to the mortuary.  It was nice and I saw some people I hadn’t seen for years.  Cathy would have liked it.

The memorial was slowing down a bit when I said goodbye to the family members and got in my car.  The next day I stopped in Atkins IA and visited with Joe and Carolyn Jacobi.  They were expecting me as Tammy had called and I finally got back to Jacksonville about 10pm Monday.  Long way.